Elevated Carboxyhemoglobin in Active Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis as Measured by Pulse CO-Oximetry.

Elevated levels of exhaled carbon monoxide have been reported in patients with active or persistent asthma or allergic rhinitis. With the recent availability of a noninvasive pulse CO-Oximeter that measures carboxyhemoglobin, measurements were made on healthy clinic staff as well as children with controlled or active asthma and asymptomatic or active allergic rhinitis to assess whether this test might have applicability in these diseases. Carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO%) was measured by a pulse CO-Oximeter during an initial clinic assessment of patients by a single physician in a Pediatric Pulmonary Clinic.

In vitro activity of minocycline against respiratory pathogens from patients with cystic fibrosis.

Our objective was to determine the in vitro activity of minocycline against isolates of Burkholderia cepacia (BC), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (SM), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) cultured from the respiratory tract of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Cultures of BC, SM, and PA were isolated in a hospital bacteriology laboratory from the sputum or oropharyngeal cultures obtained from patients attending a Cystic Fibrosis Center, and were prospectively tested for in vitro sensitivity to minocycline by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion. From January 1994 to July 1995, 116 cultures from 61 patients had at least one of the three pathogens; 9/61 (15%) patients had an isolate of BC, and 7/9 (78%) had an initial isolate sensitive to minocycline, of which 3 were sensitive only to minocycline; 2 cultures were resistant to all antibiotics.